So, there's that: When the zombie apocalypse arrives New York City will probably fall in about a day, while upstate New York will have weeks to prepare for the undead assault. So conclude a group of Cornell researchers who have done statistical modeling of a zombie outbreak.

In most films or books, "if there is a zombie outbreak, it is usually assumed to affect all areas at the same time, and some months after the outbreak you're left with small pockets of survivors," explains [Cornell grad student Alex] Alemi. "But in our attempt to model zombies somewhat realistically, it doesn't seem like this is how it would actually go down."

Cities would fall quickly, but it would take weeks for zombies to penetrate into less densely populated areas, and months to reach the northern mountain-time zone.

"Given the dynamics of the disease, once the zombies invade more sparsely populated areas, the whole outbreak slows down--there are fewer humans to bite, so you start creating zombies at a slower rate," he elaborates. "I'd love to see a fictional account where most of New York City falls in a day, but upstate New York has a month or so to prepare."

Maybe the Regional Economic Development Councils can work zombie-prevention projects into the next round funding pitches.

Also, new slogan: "Upstate New York, Fewer Humans to Bite!" See, any negative can be in turned into a positive.

(In all seriousness, the zombie stuff is just another way to talk about modeling disease outbreaks.)

Update: Congrats to Kelly for being first with the correct answers (we're applying Jeopardy rules to the name) after just 56 minutes. An un-cropped photo is now after the jump.

And a tip of the cap to Duncan and Paula for also getting the correct answer.

(Maybe we'll do this again with some place harder to guess.)
____

Because we could use some fun, let's play a local place game:

Upon which street do the eyes in the above photo gaze? To whom do the eyes belong?* And from which building do they look?

First person to guess all three correctly in the comments will win a very modest prize. If no one gets all three correct by 11 am Thursday (February 26), we'll pick the person with the most number of correct answers. (And, in that case, if there are multiple people with two (or one) correct answers, we'll draw names at random.)

Be sure to include a working email address (that you check regularly) when submitting your comment.

Long story short (because that's the point here): We had a chance to stop in to the Next Door Kitchen & Bar in Ballston Spa recently and had a good time. Because of Twitter brain (or something) we got to thinking how we could talk about the experience as concisely as possible -- in no more than 10 words. Here's what bubbled up:

The peanut butter egg is a seasonal item, and therefore only available part of the year. So even if somehow the egg and the cup were both of the same quality (which they are obviously not), because the egg is more scarce than the cup, it will be more desirable to us. Sure, this part of it is all in our heads, but so much of life is.

Just last night we had a peanut butter egg -- and we can confirm it is still better.

Earlier this week, Gawker posted a list of neighborhoods that were supposedly "the Williamsburg" of their respective cities. A lot of people floated the link our way because Albany is mentioned -- and Center Square is tagged as "the Williamsburg."

That seemed... not correct. But, whatever, the whole idea is silly.

So, of course, we then proceeded to make a list of Capital Region neighborhoods/places and their NYC neighborhood (or near NYC) analogs.

Snowshoeing, skiing, pond skating -- all fun things to do during the winter, and good ways to get out of the house. But you know what: Sometimes in the deepest part of winter you just want to stay inside, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, and hibernate. Preferably with some good TV to watch.

We would argue the best hibernation TV is made up of series that can be block (or binge) watched. So here are a handful of our suggestions. It's just a few shows, so we're hoping that you'll add some of your favorites in the comments. One of your faves could be totally new to someone else -- and become a new favorite for them.

5. Honeycrisp
A popular pick. And its ability to grow in colder climes is admirable. But some real talk: Honeycrisps are sweet and little else. They lack complexity. It's like they're just a bit too eager for you to like them. And have you seen the gargantuan size of some of the apples in stores lately? Too much. Let the masses eat Honeycrisps -- you can do better.

New York's production represented almost 18 percent of the national total. It was second only to Vermont, which produced 1.32 million gallons, almost 41 percent of the national total. (Don't mess with the Green Mountain state when it comes to maple syrup.)

Production in New York -- and all around the nation -- was way up this year compared to 2012 because of that year's oddly warm spring. The weather last year significantly shortened the amount of time farmers could gather sap -- just 24 days on average. This year the average season was 37 days.

Anyway, here are a few useless "facts" about the size of New York's maple syrup production:

The arrival of the Watson system will enable new leading-edge research at Rensselaer, and afford faculty and students an opportunity to find new uses for Watson and deepen the systems' cognitive capabilities. The firsthand experience of working on the system will also better position Rensselaer students as future leaders in the areas of Big Data, analytics, and cognitive computing.

This is a big deal because systems like Watson -- along with other stuff like Siri, and Wolfram Alpha -- are both the future and The Future (you have to say it while looking off into the distance). They hold the promise of helping people make sense of the torrents of data all around us.

Believe it or not, there are some people who don't visit AOA via an autocomplete url, feed reader, share, irresistible urge, or unconscious habit. (Yes, shocking, we know.) Many of these people come in looking for something via Google -- and sometimes we can't help but take notice of what they're looking for.

Well, as you know, we like to help. So even though you didn't actually ask, here's the (an) answer...

Believe it or not, there are some people who don't visit AOA via an autocomplete url, feed reader, share, irresistible urge, or unconscious habit. (Yes, shocking, we know.) Many of these people come in looking for something via Google -- and sometimes we can't help but take notice of what they're looking for.

Well, as you know, we like to help. So even though you didn't actually ask, here's the (an) answer...

Today's (more than) somewhat ridiculous question: If New York City and the rest of the state divorced, what would you call the rest of the state?

This question came up during a conversation recently (obviously a very serious discussion). It was quickly decided that New York City would retain the name New York State. But what about parts upstate?

And would "upstate" even decide to stay together? We could see Upstate West and Upstate East also deciding it wasn't worth it to stay together. (It's a pop/soda thing.)

Believe it or not, there are some people who don't visit AOA via a bookmark, feed reader, irresistible urge, or unconscious habit. (Yes, shocking, we know.) Many of these people come in looking for something via Google -- and sometimes we can't help but take notice of what they're looking for.

Well, as you know, we like to help. So even though you didn't actually ask, here's the (an) answer...

Tulips are past their prime? Still wish you could enjoy the blooms now? There's an app for that.

Introducing TulipVision, the world's first augmented reality app for tulips.

Using an iPhone, iPad, or Google Glasses, TulipVision inserts digital tulips into your field of vision in the spaces occupied by empty flower beds.

This is just version 1.0 -- future versions are planned to include a number of TulipFest-related features.

Future directions:
+ Audio capability to swap out music from the festival band for a band you think is cooler
+ Facial recognition for ID'ing people caught peeing on your street
+ Elected official tint adjustment
+ Fried food booth mapping

Karner Blues hang with a notoriously tough crowd. (We might have made that up.)

Believe it or not, there are some people who don't visit AOA via a bookmark, feed reader, irresistible urge, or unconscious habit. (Yes, shocking, we know.) Many of these people come in looking for something via Google -- and sometimes we can't help but take notice of what they're looking for.

Well, as you know, we like to help. So even though you didn't actually ask, here's the (an) answer...

Believe it or not, there are some people who don't visit AOA via a bookmark, feed reader, irresistible urge, or unconscious habit. (Yes, shocking, we know.) Many of these people come in looking for something via Google -- and sometimes we can't help but take notice of what they're looking for.

Well, as you know, we like to help. So even though you didn't actually ask, here's the (an) answer...

Believe it or not, there are some people who don't visit AOA via a bookmark, feed reader, irresistible urge, or unconscious habit. (Yes, shocking, we know.) Many of these people come in looking for something via Google -- and sometimes we can't help but take notice of what they're looking for.

Well, as you know, we like to help. So even though you didn't actually ask, here's the (an) answer...

Believe it or not, there are some people who don't visit AOA via a bookmark, feed reader, irresistible urge, or unconscious habit. (Yes, shocking, we know.) Many of these people come in looking for something via Google -- and sometimes we can't help but take notice of what they're looking for.

Well, as you know, we like to help. So even though you didn't actually ask, here's the (an) answer...

The Scoop

Ever wish you had a smart, savvy friend with the inside line on what's happening around the Capital Region? You know, the kind of stuff that makes your life just a little bit better? Yeah, we do, too. That's why we created All Over Albany. Find out more.